New Jersey’s Human Adult Band commit another session of raw magnetism to this C27 split with former member Chaz, here repping the beat-heavy ii. Through the standard haze, the Band unfurls as rolling percussion and mumbled verses, an explosion which may never happen, peering beyond the anti-rock of Sightings to the “post”-ism of Bitch Magnet of old with contemplative guitar lines and highly motile drumming. The metallic stomp of the following piece whistles with a suspended hardcore – clearly showing in their roots - whips of distortion licking the ceiling like flames while vocalist Trevor barks a melodic zealotry. A skronk set-up builds the third and final track, a speeded aggression of convulsive chorus, frantic guitar, and percussive calamity, crashing like old steel trash-day. The blur of the recording reaches an unbearable thick as if too little oxygen wound up fogging our lens. In shocking response, ii’s presentation is tight and polished in comparison, a dubby psych-rock espousing various amounts of Mekons, Butthole Surfers, and Truman’s Water. No titles grace any of these tracks, but the tribal demeanor of the first extends beyond percussion to the snaking of electric guitar, rattling pull-offs, and dual vocal convocation to dance. Threats of a “world” vibe are defused with off-key jabs (intentional), and a general irreverence for any sort of attribution or bullshit "authenticity". The dance begins in earnest with a zombie hoodoo of drum solo with vocal accompaniment - a dynamic piece of rhythm and a small fortune of timbres. A short raga-riff session ends the side with light percussion and no clue to the truth of this selection. Limited to a scant 25 copies on Xerox-labeled cassettes with color insert. Recommended. (DIHD/Cactus Pony cassette, $5 HERE)

Dryer/Heule/Lindsay - 'Idea of West'
"Dryer/Heule/Lindsay formed to explore musical territories made prominent in recent years emphasizing quiet and static musical structures. The trio seeks to relate to these new territories through pragmatic application of improvisation and compositional structures, rather than through stylistic imitation. Also of note is the trio's adherence to purely acoustic sound production in a music typically dominated by electronics. The trio attains a new approach to music making by rigorous adherence to fundamental methods of sound production. New material is discovered through a process of simplification, heightened awareness and a shedding of idiomatic mystification. Through this practice the action of producing sound itself becomes material; method becomes content. A focus on quieter dynamics opens a new world of micro-sound possibilities. The binding element is an adherence to clarity and an elemental awareness of process and material." HERE

The coup du cassette continues over at Stunned Records:

Kabyzdoh Obtruhamchi — 'Kabyzdoh Obtruhamchi' C50 (Stunned no. 18) $7
"Yes we're going to have to learn how to pronounce yet another tricky project name, but in this case it'll be highly worthwhile, as soon many will be talking about Kabyzdoh Obtruhamchi. Sergey Kozlov is Russia's newest exporter of excellent jams, and his solo c50 arrives as a thankful surprise with its sky-rending hybridization of eastern european guitar spree & 70s snowdazed modal folkrock. Resonant drums burst through the giant aluminum churn of guitar, voice, and percussion arcing overhead. Dancing between poles of hot motion & cool mass, Sergey's impressively energetic numbers establish themselves long enough to each become deeply meaningful, essential scenes in his pan shamanic expression. Big countries produce big stories, and we're glad to roll out the first of more hours to follow from Bryansk's psych music representative." Hand numbered edition of 100 pro-dubbed & imprinted c50 tapes in clear shells w/ gold foil liner & double sided color jcard.

A.M. Shiner — 'Bananarchy' C100 (Stunned no. 19) $7
"Sulfuric post-music debut by the young & troubled Andrew Michael Shiner, whose sonic vernacular on this special edition long playing cassette never strays far from snotty concrete chomping noise. Side A is seven widely varied attempts at funneling assaultive energy thru a black hole in the hopes of its emergence as a pure & beautiful force of healing through the white hole on the other side. Just barely making it there and catching glimpses of the toxic information field being refined in the analog shitstorm is enough to let this single side roll out the length of a full album. Side B matches the first fifty minutes with two more minimally-oriented pieces that include Andrew's first ever "metahistoric live performance" (were you there? probably!). All is finally capped by a half hour time-freezing monolith wash guaranteed to mellow any harsh incurred by contact with the bananarchic agenda. Also look out for new chapters of the A.M.S. crisis to unfold soon on Housecraft and Sound Holes. Hand numbered edition of 80 pro-dubbed black & white c100 tapes in vinyl album with cover collage compiled from a year's worth of strung out doodles from A.M. Shiner's old bummer-job phone log."

WEBSITE

Lyon’s best-titled freeform mystics Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides offer their first professional compact disc (among so many CDrs) ‘Bataille De Battle’ as four tracks of cold, steel reluctance in long-form. Made of Kelly Jones and Pascal Nichols, otherwise familiar from acts like Stuckometer and Cooper-Jones, the pair take rural farm-hands to percussion and amplified flute, generating a proud sound of modest grandeur like the carnival supraimposed in the irreverent sketching of the cover’s art. Enhancing the disc by trying relation, after much clatter the sparse wheezing of “Fully Pierced” develops into a slightly-skewed mantra of lazy, nodding rhythm and coarse bursts of wind, so better to contrast the smooth harmony of “Full Left Hand Cocoon”, a charmed evocation of resonant bowls and reedy hum to compliment the patter of drums and leading finger of flute melody: in a late-impressionistic style qua Debussy, the pair color their modern pseudo-primitivism with the happenstance of liveness, drawing out deep bellows indistinguishable from compositions for dragged furniture. Unfolding like a fever, the percussion of the track accelerates beneath the flute's lead as a complex of ritual, not improv, much precise. The erratic timpani throbs fill the bigger room of "Grapes Engraved" to a weird crowdedness; the rushed delivery of drum and flute compressing the track to a mere five minutes. Final piece "One Day We'll Limit Forever" secures the structure with a comprehensive performance of a more melodic quality and steady rhythm. A soothing balm for the cold rash of the album's front-end, the components seem strangely less in conversation than ever before. Compact disc comes in a pro digipak. (Singing Knives CD, £7/£8 HERE)

'pre pol pot pop from kampuchea' C40 5€
"Weird trance-inducing 'grey area' compilation of swinging Cambodian DJ style pop/folk tunes to float your exotic boat. Forty minutes of Far East bliss selected and mixed by Lil' Haha. Complex rhthym sections, wave tempos and a energetic powerful drive recorded in a dirty haze of wind and tapehiss. For folks that dance to Sublime Frequencies releases. Released through the newly born Why So Serious label that blows through Belgium like a fresh winter breeze. Highly recommended!"

bottoms of black lakes - 'jesus didn't go to work everyday' C20 5€
"It has recently come to my attention that the Antwerp weird underground scene keeps evolving. Every now and then a new restless soul steps up to the plate, takes the crown and runs. Dark dungeon electronics for freaks that light fags with a blowtorch and dream about mutant invasions. A dreaded morbid vision of so called better times. Bottoms Of Black Lakes is a creature that operates from a couch, west of heaven and close to a magical fountain of intoxication. Not aware of his own minimalist influences, he chops time in half and drags it across a burned wasteland of roaches, crackles and sonic despair. A creeped out (complete with lit up eyes and remote control) hairy version of Kim Cascone meets Robert Ashley. Hands down the best title in years!"

WEBSITE

Nicholas Szczepanik makes his second Animal Psi appearance this year (barely though), making good on the promises of ‘Asilbe Rubra’ with ‘A Stillness Rarely Seen’. It’s short – three inches – yet expansive – the single track fills all 21 minutes of the little CDr. Experimenting in form, Szczepanik fiddles with focus as he pulls/pushes the breathy bulk of drone which carries the track through phases of deep color contrast and textual peaks. This overcast mass is familiar to the incumbent middle-period Stars of the Lid (though leaning toward the more accessible Dead Texan one-off) and more recently, Ateleia’s ‘Nightly’. Further, bursts of rain, bleary playground recordings, and an entry of piano striate the track at perfect fractions. The vaporous movement of the track coasts sinister over these scenes in fine juxtaposition, revealing the melodrama of the composition in tandem with its own compelling logic. Lingering between ambient and narrative, the effect is meditative but not to remedial. Packed in heavy vinyl sleeve and a gorgeous, full-color cardstock with photo by Rob Dobi. Limited to 139 pieces. (Small Doses 3”CDr, $4 HERE)

trhp23: v/a - 'LAST WINTER WE DIDN'T SING' $10
"Last Winter We Didn't Sing features winter holiday-inspired music from the likes of Scott Tuma, The Instruments (Elephant 6 cellist and Gnarls Barkley touring bassist Heather McIntosh), pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn with a hauntingly beautiful 16-minute solo improvisation, Greg Davis inspired by a Simon & Garfunkel "Silent Night" arrangement, Beggin' Your Pardon Miss Joan, Fabio Orsi playing an ambient noir-jazz piece like something out of Twin Peaks, Nicholas Szczepanik with a heart-wrenching piece of beauty and Chartreuse slowing down a traditional French waltzing carol. It's a somber and reflective take on the season with a beautiful illustration by Ariel Kitch screen-printed on heavy chipboard eco packs by Sire Press." Hand-numbered edition of 300.

trhp17: GAY AFRICA - 'Pizzaze' CDr EP $6
"Gay Africa is yet another Dark Meat offshoot, this time a foursome led by the long-haired nuke-jammer Jim McHugh. Bedded with the drone of an electronic raagini, Gay Africa completely improvises "Dream Cables," a 20-minute raga-rocker recorded live at the 40 Watt in Athens, Geo., by Sloan Simpson.Jim's in Richard-Thompson-channeling-Ravi-Shankar mode, with Emily Armond (flute), Theodore Tutu (trumpet) and Jason Robira (drums) kicking up the dirt and celebrating the spirits. The packaging is really something on this one, too. Each copy is entirely unique: hand-painted by Kate Burnet on reused, cut-up vinyl jackets. The insert is an origami fortune teller folded from old maps. These took a long time to make, but were so worth the wait." Hand-numbered edition of 150.

trhp21: GENE JANAS & JEFFREY HAYDEN SHURDUT - 'Ray-Gun' 3"CDr $5
"INTENSE INTENSE!! FREE-IMPROV 21ST CENTURY STYLE FROM THE NEW MONSTERZ ON THE BLOCK!! DEEP CLEANSING MUSIC, YO!! Bassist/vocalist Gene Janas left this note about his new recording project with multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut and I feel like there's little left to say. Janas' main gig with the fire-jazz unit Owl Xounds seems to be on temporary hiatus, so RAY-GUN is a welcome venture into a new language. Janas grunts spoken word over the squeal of his upright while Shurdut moves around the alto sax, trumpet and piano, playing colors outside/through/above the lines. This is indeed some serious cleansing music." Black artwork printed onto 5"x5" heavy red cardstock folded into a sturdy mylar sleeve. Hand-numbered edition of 78.

trhp20: NICK HENNIES - 'Paths' CDr $5
"It shouldn't have, but it came as a surprise to me that Weird Weeds percussionist (and one-time Jandek drummer) Nick Hennies had been recording electronic music for some time, so I'm excited to officially release his first recording for no-input mixer. I could use the language most do when talking about this machine -- how the knobs reveal ghosts in the machine or what metallic alien drones seep through. But listening to the 24-minute work, you hear the echoes of Hennies' studious improvisational approach with careful shifts of high-pitched feedback and his attention to (a)tonal in/sensitivity". Artwork by Andrew Drummond printed on heavy cardstock with a dark blue gel slipped into a mylar sleeve to reveal the text. Hand-numbered edition of 75.

WEBSITE

Keith Rowe/Taku Unami (ErstLive 006) and Keith Rowe (ErstLive 007)
"In September 2008, legendary guitarist Keith Rowe played four sets in three nights in the AMPLIFY 2008: light festival in Tokyo. The festival marked Rowe's fourth trip to Japan in his 40+ year career and the first time he was able to work closely with so many Tokyo musicians on their home turf. As the only non-Japanese participant in the festival, Rowe took the opportunity to both move his aesthetic towards his collaborators (in the duo sets), as well as to make a strongly contrasting individual statement in his solo set, which he later titled 'Cultural Templates'. The first two of those four sets are now available in the ErstLive series: the premiere meeting of Rowe and Taku Unami and the aforementioned 'Cultural Templates', Rowe's first solo set ever in Tokyo. The two sets from the final night of the festival, duos with Sachiko M and Toshimaru Nakamura, will be released in 2009, completing the tetralogy. AMPLIFY 2008: light was an intense and deeply immersive experience for all who were lucky enough to be present, and quite a bit of that was attributable to Rowe's four sets, which will now be available for all to hear. The ErstLive series is an attempt to capture the uncapturable: unedited, unpolished concert recordings packaged in a template design using two colors chosen by the musicians involved, with a photo of the concert on the back cover." WEBSITE

Lateral Hyetography - 'Some Girlzzz' cassingle $3.5
"Dense inhuman pop music bliss. The thump of preset drum machines vacillates with distorted guitar layers and thick vocal sheen. The first document from a string of forthcoming releases; two versions of the single in true cassingle fashion. Professional cover model and pro-everything else. 1st edition of 95 sold out; 2nd edition of 95 copies now available on green chrome tape with cardstock J-Cards. Check the web for reviews and radio coverage."

Antique Brothers - 'Hot Shit' C44 $5
"Salvia-inflected musicianship. Members have collaborated with Pocahaunted, Robedoor, VxPxC, Century Plants, and Cold Sun, among others. Seeing them play Bottled Smoke Festival and the Neon Commune Festival floored me and put this tape into my crystal ball. Pro-everything (dubbing, imprinting, printing), chrome tape, meticulously designed cardstock J-Card with images from "a trip" to Lappland. Edition of 125."

WEBSITE

KAWABATA MAKOTO - 'Rainbow Of Love' LP £11(WORLDWIDE)
"I am extremely pleased to announce this one... Brand new solo record from one of the most prolific Japanese recording artists around right now. Most people will know Kawabata Makoto as the guitar wielding shredder from Acid Mother Temple. This brand new solo recording is a two piece epic of some of the most beautiful tones I've heard in a while. Side A's 'You Are From The Rainbow Over The Sea' is an piece of bowed beauty, taking you to a higher plain of consciousness. The B Side's 'Waiting For You Till The End Of The Rainbow' is just as cosmic as its predecessor with cascading waterfalls of tones washing over you again and again... kinda reminds me of some of the Inui series, which is probably some of my favourite material from Makoto. Edition of only 270 copies in screen printed sleeves with artwork by my man Darryl Norsen!"

BEN NASH/NAUTILUS Split LP £11(WORLDWIDE)
"Nautilus is the solo project of Heidi Diehl of Vanishing Voice/Time Life, long time BR transatlantic e-mail buddy who we finally got to meet just over a year ago on the very brief Vanishing Voice tour... since then she has begun recording solo material under this alias, and has self released one CDR which blew our minds, and likewise blew local long time BR friend Ben Nash's cranium apart, thus the concept for this split LP was born! The Nautilus side opens with 'Still Rings', a far out trip of weirdo outsider dripping mind fuzz, like some kind of spatial insect gathering. 'Tallahasse Woman' rings more bells with the sound of Vanishing Voice and Heidi's psychedelic string playing, and subtle vocals buried below it. 'Jeans Theme' is another sweet track of tranced out guitar with approaching percussion and waves of vocal drones. Ben Nash holds his side with two nearly 8 minute tracks, opener 'Plymouth Bredren Blues' has definetly got the blues as mentioned in the title, there's some serious woe in the wah right here, and some almost Paris, Texas moments. 'Interloper/Latch' also starts off pretty bluesy but half way through goes to a speaker shredding guitar shaker, with some seriously serious riffs, that are almost breaking up as they begin, and then reverting back to the blues mediation of the beginning of the track.. A great release, in an edition of 270 copies with paste on artwork."

ELM - 'Woven Into Light' CDr £5.5(WORLDWIDE)
"Solo project of one half of Barn Owl, Jon Porras... and its an absolute mind blower. Following his previous release on Digitalis (that vanished in the flash of an eye), here's a new 7 track album of meandering drone laced with guitars, vocals, harmonium and harmonica... Opener 'Rising Smoke Woods' sounds as though its been recorded at the top of a hill at the close of day, slow, bleak, guitar with distant waves of vocal telepathy, far out chimes, and a mellow building drone that turns into an almost doom riff from the looming darkness. 'Solemn Night Prayer' has an almost nomadic wanderer feel to it, with its whispering flutes, fuzzed riff and repetitive guitars foot stepping around and around. Album finale is with 'Waves Break Into Beams of Light', which is a hazy mist of shaky drones layered over one another. Limited to 250 hand numbered copies, pro manufactured CDRs with simple stark on disc print."

ELM - 'Woven Into Light' cassette £6(WORLDWIDE)
Limited to 25 copies, packaged in stamped brown card box with paste on artwork housing a bubble wrapped cassette and a hand numbered parchment paper insert.

WEBSITE

In sharp compliment to Stunned’s latest from the unassailable steel strings of Plankton Wat comes the work of Claus Haxholm, hereby The Doom Riot. A guitar music of drastically different stripe, the electrified monoliths constructed by Haxholm – reaching 12, 20, and 30 minutes – work in tandem of hi/lo contrast, as the gliding, half-speed High Rise of “Giants & Titans” crests sleepily into the busy, yet hopelessly murky primer “Star in the Skull”. Reconstructing a Popul Wu’uj/Popul Vuh psychedelia, the tracks chant with the monotonous fervor of the true believer, delving into the absent space which can channel the energy to craft the half-hour of booming distortion automatically-written as “Backup Angel Fire Sphere”: a sharp distortion overwhelming the secret piano of tones striating the track, the electric church congregates not without worry among the congregation; crashing into itself, the bassy plumes which cough as if on accident thin into the crackling electricity which overwhelms the ear, evoking at least a physical want for air/space. Deceptively offering more space and little percussion to be found, “Night Saviour Drummer” keeps a busy tempo in deeper hues, disallowing the lungs to relax in high-frequency/low-volume vibrations punctuated by a clattering like the warning of wind-chimes, or more realistically, a futile performance of triangle versus electric guitar. A tumultuous journey, the ‘The Doom Riot’ proves more than a fashionable misnomer, and the title a reasonable representation of the unattainable desires of the sound within. Printed CDr comes in clamshell with thick color art, hand-numbered to 60 copies. (Stunned CDr, sold out HERE)

ARBOR55 TEN THOUSAND THINGS - 'CROOKED ON CHROME' C20 $6
"Heavy mechanized factory zones, synthetic industrial murk: this collaborative project between East Coast mainstays Geoffrey Mullen (of the Rare Youth label) and Scott Reber (aka Work/Death) reveals a polyphonic wasteland. Covered under layers of tape sludge and deep bass exists a synthesized ambiance, eerie like dark nights in the warehouse district." In an edition of 100 tapes printed on silver cardstock with tape labels.

ARBOR78 GOD WILLING/PRIVY SEALS SPLIT LP $12
"God Willing and Privy Seals are two of the prime purveyors of meditative harsh tones. God Willing's guitar and oscillatior drone has been reaching epic levels of hypnosis lately and this piece is a great example. The repetitive nature of textured signals act like the swaying charm of the pocket watch: onward march. Matthew Sullivan has been crafting his Earn project recently, and this, one of the final Privy Seals recordings acts as a logical bridge. Heavy, hi-end guitar and tape interlacing: a harsh movement, but possessing transcendently soothing qualities buried under the deprivation of distorted tones. At the end of the hallway a door lies open. A long overdue document of the LA Diaspora." In an edition of 300 LPs with silkscreened chipboard covers by Ren Schofield.

ARBOR88 C. SPENCER YEH + LASSE MARHAUG - 'THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES' 7" $6
"This collaborative work between US improviser C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core) and European sound artist Lasse Marhaug is one of the most diverse and rewarding efforts by either artist. It is the result of hours of recording, cut up and spliced together, giving the listener a glimpse into various short snippets of the sessions. Harsh quick sonic blasts, violin scrapes and drones, field recordings, vocal exercises, room clatter and more are used in the process, but the way that they are assembled and woven together provides a nonstop experience that goes best with highly concentrated listening. Still the result is so varied that something new can be heard on every listen; a recording so intense you can never truly grasp what is actually happening; most definitely a highlight in both artists' discographies." In an edition of 400 7"s in proprinted foldover sleeves with art Jose DeDiego and an insert.

ARBOR91 OUTER SPACE - 'PERFECT VACUUM' C30 $6
"John Elliot (of Emeralds, Lilypad, Daylight Savings Time) has spent many years mastering his MS-10. This tape from his young Outer Space project is an exploratory trip into the deep caves; synthesized water drips into stalactite formation. Heavy "what's it" zones, broadening the boundaries: refusing the molds of synth drone by creating something entirely singular: uncharted." In an edition of 150 tapes with full color art and labels.

WEBSITE

Anemone Lodge s/t CDr $8
"Anemone Lodge is the result of a spirited improvisation between the like-minds of Number None (Chris Miller and Jeremy Bushnell), The Opera Glove Sinks in the Sea (Gwyneth Merner) and Radiant Husk (Matt Erickson). Recorded in November 2006 in Chicago, the group used synthesizer, theremin, field recordings, keyboards, bowed guitar, pianolin, feedback loops and fx to channel the spectral hum and whir of that fall evening. Equal parts blissed tone-float and murky echo, a ritual set to tape in the belly of a whale." Silk-screened on chipboard sleeves with full color inserts.

Radiant Husk – ‘Beyond an Endless Swale’ C32 $5
"This tape is the newest installment from Radiant Husk, with pieces that walk the rope between long-form composition and dense free-reed clusters, between flowing washes of basalt and minimal space echo." Hand-stamped tapes in color printed fold-out j-cards.

Sudden Oak s/t C21 $5
"First album from this saxophone/guitar duo from San Francisco. While attempting to record under the influence of their European and Japanese idols, they ended up with a foggy blast that sounds nothing like the original intent. The coordinates are somewhere in the Borbetomagus vein, but much more refracted to the point of infinite space." Hand-stamped j-card on cardstock.

Radiant Husk – ‘several potem’ CDr $7
"An initial transmission from this project, divided into four parts. Using reeds, keyboards, tapes and electronics, this is the sound of a mirror buried in a snow field. Recorded during the summer and fall of 2007, this album was an attempt to imagine Takehisa Kosugi and Terry Riley collaborating at the ONCE Festival in 1966 with Bruce Conner manning the light show." Woodblock stamped cds and full color inserts.

WEBSITE

THE PUKE EATERS - 'Hello Valhalla' LP (Skulls of Heaven / Lalalal) $12
Limited Edition of 500 pressed 140g Black vinyl. "Does anyone remember a remarkable piece of psych-styled rubbish called "God is Free", released on Chocolate Monk back in 2004? Of all the odd wonders and incestuous secrets to emerge from Finland in the last 20 years, the Puke Eaters could be thee greatest. "Hello Walhalla" is the first long playing record by this anti-prolific group. The applied methods range from accidental to free and from psycho-motorik to ritual. For any points of reference think of the swamp into which Fille qui mousse, Cromagnon and 'Jesus Christ' era Smell & Quim were dumped. After years of tireless experimentation in the cynical utopian ruinscape of their collective butterfly mind, The Puke Eaters have loosened their belts and finally unleashed their deadliest recordings for thee future caveman. Endless volcano-brain spewing on the ur-limits of limitless psycho-dynamic sound clash, totally high on Scandinavian pussy juice."

CLAY RUBY - 'Pluto in Capricorn' CDr (Skulls of Heaven) $8
"After 13 years in Sagittarius, the dark planet Pluto has finally begun his phase through the potent house of Capricorn. This journey will take 15 long and volatile years to complete. As a tribute to the beginning of what will no doubt be an epic period of destruction and deconstruction hopefully followed by intensive reevaluation and renewal, this album takes the listener through a similarly dynamic journey of celestial electronic meditations. Two months of depression medicated by serious drug and keyboard abuse yielded over 8 hours of introspective new age star symphonies, reaching through the darkness, towards some idea of future lightness. These recordings were then sifted through using modern astrological technologies to select the most thematically appropriate material for this song cycle. All atmospheres are thoroughly mutated through the chronic sicknesses of crude analog processing, only glimpses of the intended therapeutic cherubs make themselves known to the
listener. Vast future darkness haunts the proceedings as scales climb to sublime pitches only to be shifted back into the murk of spiritual death and the first flickers of rebirth. Analog mirror music, mandatory long distance mental travel is woven into either alternative."

SECOND FAMILY BAND - 'Wisconsin Gospel (Books One - Four)' CDr (skulls
of heaven) $8/ all four for $30
"The ever living theater of Midwestern brethren ((formerly casting itself as Davenport Family, Candiru, Zodiac Mountain, The Grass Magic, All Do Gather, A Mercury Ensemble, Orthodox Blood Orchestra, Jesus Balls, etc etc etc,))) has birthed it's final phoenix. Arising here is the first four discs in an on-going documentary anthology, originally intended as an LP series, these cdrs present the material as intended for consumption in the right now. "Wisconsin Gospel" collects unreleased material compiled by Clay Ruby from 10 years worth of gatherings and archival recordings. As always, the groups fearlessly treads through senseless psychedelia, energetic kraut/tribal workouts, ecstatic prayer sessions, and deep analog explorations flush with broken folk gestures and perfect accidents."

WEBSITE

905.31: HOLLOW BONEZ - 'BLUE BLAZER IRREGULAR' C25 $6
"homemade synth stains straight outta the parts unknown zone. hxbx brings the weirdo tone pile-up on full blast with two spacecraft globbers, swirling back and forth from ocean floor to nebula cloud. when you get out of bed in the middle of the night for a glass of water, the last thing you wanna see in the kitchen is an alien, right? this is just a reminder."

905.33: NECKHOLD - 'BLACK BILE' C20 $6
"these two aussies played an all day i.n.c. gig a few months back in philly and thrashed the room with some sickly ultra-violent feedback. i think the setup only consisted of a few pedals and contact mics, some of which were hooked up to a skateboard that was repeatedly bashed, and the results were thick and mangled. their ear bleeding harsh noise translate perfect onto tape. best well kept secret out there."

905.38: V/A 'BRAINS ON BACKWASH' C92 COMPILATION $6
"this hour and a half compilation plays almost like one long brain melter rather than twenty one seperate artists. that means no gaps between tracks. in fact, there is some slight overlay when it was called for to keep the boiling going. all over the noise spectrum jams from: cock e.s.p., tonight golden curls, hal mcgee, tusco terror, oubliette, diaphragm, wether, skybirds, to live and shave in l.a., datashock, sky limousine, talibam!, head boggle, suburbia melting, hunting rituals, the lonely procession, reviver, d/a a/d, xiphiidae, slow listener, and andrew kirschner.

905.39: KYLIE MINOISE - 'ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS' C20 $6
"a blown speaker rampage from glasgow's lea cummings solo affair kylie minoise. two more bloodthirsty avalanches added to the ever impressive portfolio that cummings has been building up. the sounds here fluctuates from dark and agonizing death rattles to piercing levees of gunk, mixing things up with heavy delay when needed."

905.40: DISGUISES S/T C30 $6
"saw these dudes rip it a few years back and was hooked, so i'm stoked to bring a brand new slab of scum from the canadian basement chain gang disguises. full on drums/fungus/synth/murk bottom fed blasters. these dudes blend lumbering waste noise with stoned psych elements like no other. basically a guesstimate at form and an onrush of splurge."

all for $25. WEBSITE

From the blowdart evacuations in the opening seconds of ‘Self-Hate Index’, it is painfully clear that Greg Kelley is here to experiment. “Stimulus Check” begins the album’s ¾ hour document of one man’s futile interrogation of “his” instrument, in this case, Kelley as trumpeter. Blowing wind into its mouthpiece becomes sucking the air from his body; depressing the valves becomes repressing the proper notes from appearing. With a buzzing impotence familiar to the work of Dave Phillips, the man drags insectine static with a vivid fidelity; the crackle we hear is not the recording, but the over-micing of the row – the spectator is not excused, but implicated as well. The confrontation – one of seven – lasts for eight minutes, as do the three which follow, though the whole disc extends to a single episode of almost cartoonish loathing as the man tries to best his creation. Or is the problem that it is not his creation? If the first was an honest effort to “play” the thing, “These Are Distractions” offers a second approach, tinkering to subvert the device – a compulsive desire to mastery, void of actual virtuous mastery – the sounds of metal twisted and tweaked, with tentative huffs punctuating each adjustment. Eventually, the man imitates the successful pull of the instrument with an extended yet untenable blast, teetering sadly into the crunchy “Shearing Husks” where the performance is obscured (thus, unappraisable) by the misplacement of the microphones. The vacancy of the following track – hollow breaths like a window’s draft playing off the microphone- emerges in the choking liquidity of “Vessel”, a drowning in tub or toilet which accentuates the architecture of the instrument while still failing to play it properly (though the sounds which appear are among the most consistent thus far). The harsh noise of “Anxious Drift” represents the final tantrum – and, ironically, the most generically “musical” of the tracks – a tirade of skronky chatter like a Naked City burst of discomfited presentation. The final movement “Visiting Microphones” reveals the dimensions of the studio space as the player moves about the room, presenting a variety of sounds at each station like a recap of the six places he stood prior. Like the suction of the introduction, an extending vacuum fills the final moments, sputtering steadily from the face among staggering footfalls which seem equally in need of direction. The olde English font on over-blown camouflage which appears at first as lazy design reveals a deeper correspondence to the heated frustration of the disc, a libidinal degeneration corrupted by simulacra and a genuine disdain for music. ‘Self-Hate Index’ represents Kelley’s fourth proper release, and though I must plead ignorance of his prior work, the man represents a spectacular vision or desperation which few other experimentalists can match at the moment. Brilliant, and so very ugly. (Semata CD, $12 HERE)

Loner Deluxe - 'Must Not Sleep Must Warn Others'/'Lost & Found' 2x3"CDr
Originally released on the Toyko-based Duotone label, 'Must Not Sleep Must Warn Others' now returns home via Rusted Rail and brings some old friends with it in the shape of a bonus 3' disc of previously unreleased material, fittingly called 'Lost & Found'. The seasonal atmospherics of 'Must Not Sleep...' leans heavily on frosted melodies and evocative acoustica woven into mellow, meditative and minimalist music and features special guests and labelmates Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon and Agitated Radio Pilot. Mainly harvested from an old hard drive the additional disc 'Lost & Found' veers from gentle tone poems to ethereal folkways and dreamlike sonics. The aural equivalent of watching old video tapes, this lost Loner Deluxe music is made available for the first time along with an effervescent remix/redesign of some music from labelmates The Declining Winter and a gentle reworking of some music from previous collaborators Plinth. This double 3 inch hand stamped release is housed in handmade mini-gatefold sleeve." HERE

ltd#41: katchmare - 'soft cavern' C46 $7(domestic)/$9(world)
"katchmare is the solo moniker of nick hoffman who runs the excellent scissor death label up in illinois. "soft cavern" is a dense listen and perfect for the oncoming bitter cold that winter brings. using little more than guitar and microsynth, hoffman laces the hanging branches with burned-out silver streamers and acid-soaked confetti. there's something about "soft cavern" that is simultaneously disorienting but familiar. you're sure you've been here, but you can't quite figure out when. there's a vague, sinister undercurrent that flows through the cavern walls, but it's constantly kept in check by hoffman's able, delicate touch. these drones are entangled in each other, like a sonic spiderweb of bliss. limited to 50 copies." HERE

ltd#42: mortuus auris & the black hand s/t C46 $7(domestic)/$9(world)
"this uk outfit plumbs the depths on their self-titled debut offering, searching for the caustic mud that makes things tick. mortuus auris & the black hand are an analog for the demons trapped beneath the seas, whispering sweet missives to a disenchanted world of black. casios and synths intermingle with field recordings and god knows what else in an effort to block out the sun. these three efforts take hold immediately, whirring their way into your bones. mortuus auris hold their own against stifling winds, blasting out of the gates and into a sonic crevice. bleeps and bloops pulse like an electronic heartbeat waiting to be put out of its misery, hopeful that what awaits on the other side is bathed in liquid silver." limited to 50 copies, forensic-style cassette labels. HERE

ltd#47: darwinsbitch - 'steel hum' C25 $7(domestic)/$9(world)
"finally, the bitch is here. marielle v. jakobsons is the brilliant mind behind the elusive darwinsbitch. her music is rich in texture and portrays an aural depth that you can't quite pierce. "steel hum" is an introduction, an effort to bring you into the fold in anticipation of her spellbinding debut full-length, "ore." but what "steel hum" has is an organic sense of place and a path forward. jakobsons employs numerous methods with a focus on synths, tapes, and violin. what she creates is a slightly-uneasy soundworld, constantly teetering on the edge of collapse. these sides are like a rocking ship drifting back & forth in deep grey seas. you're not sure if you should just enjoy the view or vomit your dinner over the side. "steel hum" is caught in the space between." limited to 99 copies w/ custom stamped art. HERE

ltd#48: sky limousine - 'telepresence' C20 $7(domestic)/$9(world)
"i love me some sky limousine. rarely does a project's moniker so perfectly encapsulate its sound, but in the case of sky limo it couldn't be more true. "telepresence" alternates between gooey synthed-out goodness and schizoid tape collage efforts. it all flows like a crystal river deep into the trenches of your frontal lobe. the journey that is "telepresence" will take you all over the globe. blips of eastern-tinged cacaphony fit snugly against hiss-drenched jamborees, all leading into uplifting synth passages and quiet solemnity. like i said, i love me some sky limousine. limited to 50 copies, japanese paper cover stylings." HERE

digiv003: scott tuma/mike weis - 'taradiddle' $14/$17/$25
"Scott Tuma made his triumphant return earlier this year with "Not For Nobody" and continues to answer the call with this new, exquisite offering in collaboration with Zelienople's Mike Weis. "Taradiddle" is a new journey down similar terrain, searching out something new in a landscape that's been visited before. Take Tuma's capable hands and add the fantastic percussive talents of Weis and it's like the wheel reinvented. These two play off one another beautifully, with Weis creating layers of havoc beneath Tuma's pastoral missives. It's beautiful and dissonant. Weis is the perfect foil for Tuma's brittle sound world. The music breathes underwater, building and building on itself until it's risen into this majestic monument of glass. Archaic drones spit bombastic blasts of fire while the resulting sparks flicker into a million directions, flourescent in the night sky. Acoustic guitars drenched in reverb ring hollow with pianos echoing in the distance. Weis creates a river with swishing cymbals puncuated by fragile bells. Everything is bright, vivid, and new on "Taradiddle." Everything is perfect." LP comes in fold-out silkscreened poster-style sleeve and is strictly limited to 300 copies. HERE

ACE021: barn owl - 'from our mouths a perpetual light' CD $13/cd+$20
"It's been quite a whirlwind ride for Barn Owl since they made their debut on Foxglove a few years ago. In such a short time period they've emerged as one of the premier bands on the West Coast. This duo of Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras are as good as it gets and this is their opus. Originally released on vinyl by the good folks at Not Not Fun, "From Our Mouths a Perpetual Light" is an epic offering to the sun gods. This San Francisco-based duo have crafted something impeccable here full of spectral blues and subterranean drones that rival anything else happening today. Epic doom-tinged guitars explode like a phoenix impaling itself on a nuclear missile bathing everything in glorious, gluttonous black. The album's title envisages the greatness that is to come. Nothing is spared as they rain liquid hellfire down onto the scorched desert. From their mouths a perpetual light indeed. It will suck you in, fill your bones with diamonds, and paint you in titanium chrome. There is nowhere to hide from these menacing sounds, but even if you could, why the fuck would you want to? Note: CD version includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks that were not on the LP version of the album. Special edition includes bonus live cassette (it's basically one-sided, though the program repeats on both sides), fold-out poster designed by Caminiti, and Barn Owl button. It is strictly limited to 100 copies." HERE

ACE017: of - 'rocks will open' CD $13/CD+C44 $18
"Loren Chasse is responsible for a whole host of vital albums. He was a founding member of the Jewelled Antler label and has sparked so many great moments from the likes of Thuja, The Blithe Sons, Softwar, and of course his main solo guise, Of. For years this project has evolved into something of absolute magical grandeur. "Rocks Will Open" is the latest opus in Chasse's catalog. The music on this album is as organic as it gets. Each tone, each sound feels like it has been culled directly from the Earth's crust. Gentle drones arc toward the hazy sunlight, flickering like distant birds sailing out over the sea. Between the ghostly echoes rises a cacacphony of plucked strings dancing toward oblivion. Loren Chasse's vision is perfectly expressed on "Rocks Will Open." Limited to 500 copies. Special Edition limited to 100 copies and includes exclusive cassette, "Morphological Echo." HERE

(VxPxC) - ‘Baked Potatoes’ CDr $7
“(VxPxC) or Vast Psychedelic Cassettes, was born in Los Angeles in early 2005 when Justin McInteer, Grant Capes , and Tim Goodwillie began creating their improvised music over spiked coffee and days spent skipping work. The tracks on this album, recorded in Los Angeles over a time span of many months, draw together thick , smoky hues of psych heavy improv using a wide range of folksy instrumentation and gloomy effects: campfire psychedelics.” Numbered edition of 77.

Preliminary Saturation - ‘Hell's Mouth’ C30 $7
“In may of 2008, preliminary saturation played at an ( f) art festival in the Dutch town Helmond. The crowd was though and the organization worse . PS tried to give their best anyway. Hell's Mouth is a literal translation of Helmond; it suited the situation pretty well. . .” Numbered edition of 33 copies

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Capturing both the spirit of summer and the just-in-time glory of home-recording and CDr technologies, ‘Ashdod To Ekron’ by The Golden Sores was recorded late last June, mixed in July, and released in August. Unfortunately, capturing the glory of the blogosphere and amateur music criticism, it has sat on my shelf ever since. Nevertheless, the sweltering glint of this Vaseline recording deposits the thick air of a Chicago summer without restricting the sonic excursions to an equally-seasonal relevance; what more, given the medieval Christian imagery of the cover and titles, the lazy escapism of a summer session is well placed, transporting just enough of the moment into a mythical drone epic in five parts. With a chorus of high frequency buzz and hazy guitar leads, “Arphaxad” walks backward to a pre-guitar space, allowing itself to be eaten in a wall of white noise like transport. We emerge on the other side to the two-part “Harlots of Ashkelon” – all tracks are skillfully, seamlessly blended together – a deep quavering bolsters the passing of washes like freight-trains in shape and weight. These interjections, while never breaking the rhythmic currency of the deep-wide drone, grow larger and larger, near-missing a collision of Stars of the Lid alien science and the mechanistic canvases of Machinefabriek. Totaling 25 minutes in length, these two tracks alone could fill a modest disc, as they construct a story from the heavy repression of lent to the sonorous riot of carnival located in the second half of part two: like singing knives, a chorus of sharp organ stabs kick drunkenly between each other, phasing a Riley-like dervish with the steady foundational drone. “Ur” hums an overcast cool in remarkably dynamic organ melody trapped in an icy resonance, the tonal peaks glinting like silver sunlight off the clouded bulk of the drone. Out of this, the sine-wave of “Gorgon Blues” cuts like a jet stream, a busy engine of hi-mid-lo swarms separated into distinct strata of unwavering intensity to the very end. What happened to the historical fiction I don’t know, but I like where we ended up. CDr comes in a slim jewelcase with thick, richly colored insert. Hand-numbered to 100 copies. Understated, esoteric, and very excellent. (Drone Cowboy CDr, $8 HERE)

Inseminoid - 'Waiting for Ms. Hayden' BH004 CDr
Edition of 100. Card mailer sleeve with cover chosen randomly from twelve inserts, the remaining eleven are found in the mailer. "Spawned in blackness this is another far from human birth from the pairing of Lee Stokoe (Culver, Skullflower, Marzuraan) and George Proctor (Mutant Ape, Murder Book, Turgid Animal). There’s too much detail in the two tracks to take seriously the limiting tag of drone/noise, Inseminoid sound-drown the last of the pretenders." HERE

No Fun Productions’ hot-streak of releases has been upgraded to plain fucking fantastic record making (cf. Dan Burke and Thomas Dimuzio’s wonderful ‘Upcoming Events’ most recently), now a complementary doubling of their curatorial dominance. As its latest boast, the Brooklyn outfit's mastermind Carlos Giffoni presents ‘Adult Life’, the mature chaperone to his double 7” ‘The Absence of Essence’ on Arbor. An industrialism of heavy textures, the experimental composition of these five tracks is not quite: as informed by Giffoni’s recent move from laptop to analog, this is more a sobered return to unfinished business – or at least, whatever Masami Akita left unfinished when he made the reverse move a decade ago. The studied repetition of each track appears not to soothe or coerce ala traditional drone work, but to present each sonic construction as a swatch to finger and rub one’s face in; this privileges neither the mode of construction nor the total abstraction of the composition, but the tactile and perceptual engagement of the music - music, which this most assuredly is. With frank due to Akita’s Merzbow and luminaries like Maurizio Bianchi, as well as an explicit linkage to the laboratory of Pauline Oliveros, these tracks indicate a return to engagement as much as they continue a genuine work for liberation. The pulsating excitement of “The Endless Mirror” revels in a perfect fidelity forever (credits to the untouchable James Plotkin), phase-shifting with the greatest subtly as the buzzing overlays match stabs to a chalky strobe and detuning melody. This, coupled with the slobbering synths of the pulse-demonic “Comfort And Pleasure” makes for a relentless, 20 minute overture of pure libido. The waning breath of the latter coldly drops the listener into the sparse slither of “A Son With No Father”, wherein the constant, quaky quiver underpinning the track’s shallow oscillations feels like the unstable footing of compulsive-repetition buried in the title. Suitably, “This Is How You Pull The Trigger” gestures seductively out of this trap with a 2/3rds headache of incompatible rhythm and antagonistic melodic interference which opposes by deposing the established throb and sustaining a high-frequency pattern of lifeless metal.

It is at this point that listener will likely look up to address the theme of the album, with its Freudian affect and botanical/anatomic artwork (rendered handsomely by Megan Ellis) suggestively straddling the center-hole. Without holding the artist too close to his own fire, the dirty tricks of the topical Noise album (and it’s debatable if we want to call ‘Adult Life’ either), heavy on trajectory and overly emboldened narrative markers, is not totally absent here. The psychological phantasy conjured in the surrounding tracks may too perfectly crown the album/patient’s aforementioned nadir, mapping the disc to a bellish perfection. Yet to critique this critique, one must explode the album to its component parts, divorced from each other and even the titles to consider the trickling lilt of each movement in the first half, and oppositional structure of the final two tracks which accelerates to a overheated evaporation rather than an impotent shrinkage. Either way, the point is Adult Life always ends in death. Final piece “Permanent Choice” moves brilliantly, dialectically through a wavering field of breathy air-conditioning and its hot manifold disguised outside before entering the figurative death tone of an analog binarism, the tattooed “choice” of the Digital made a double-helix spiraling the channels left to right to left, an eternal return en stereo. Absolutely incredible, entirely recommended. CD comes in a heavy, over-sized gatefold with full color art. (No Fun CD, $12 HERE)

GPS41 The Pistil Cosmos - 'Wandering in the Dark' CDr
"This one's a beauty, a total killer 5 track CD from Frenchman Vincent Caylet, aka "The Pistil Cosmos". Having previously recorded a number of wonderful cassette and small run CDR's as "V", notably the recent awesome "The Chanting Path" on Blackest Rainbow, this new set is an absolute must for all ya space, drone folk, vuh heads out there. Five pieces of exploratory, spectral, drone laden psychedelia, that veer from the feel of scratchy field recordings through Popol Vuh flavoured slow builders to the lo-fi noise of prime era Flying Saucer Attack. From gentle, subtle ambience to feedback drenched noise then back again. Just 200 copies of this one, and each is dressed in beautiful duo-colour screened wallet sleeves." HERE

DIVINE COILS & LANTERNS - 'EASY HOURS' collaborative C40 4£(U.K.)/5£(E.U.)/6£(World)
"A sonic mind-uniting collabortion between Leeds and Glasgow astral drone duo LANTERNS and Oxford laminal improvising duo DIVINE COILS Side A: A side long jam uniting threads of mirco tonal speaker feedback, ebowed snare, glimmers of submerged guitar vibrations, & metalaphone reverberations. Side B: One track of gentle bells, found percussion, & shimmering single note guitar, and a second of fog shrouded ambient tones and metallic whir." Limited to 80 boxed sprayed blue tapes w/ found photo negitive colour printed on card." HERE

DEATH BY HORSECOCK - 'COUPEURS DE TETE DE L'AMAZONE' CDr $3(FRANCE)/$6(WORLD)
"DBH presents one hour of fucked up drones dedicated to the Shuar and the holy ritual of head shrinking. Made by three weirdos, for weirdos."

DEATH BY HORSECOCK - 'HALLUCINES, LES LOUPS DU MANOIR' CDr $3(FRANCE)/$6(WORLD)
"The older, wiser brother to COUPEURS DE TETE DE L'AMAZONE comes back from a year long journey to the other side of the globe... and it has a terrible secret. A terrific collection of carefully crafted, haunting lycanthropic droney jams."

WHEN DAY CHOKES THE NIGHT - 'LA VIE EN MIETTES' CDr $3(FRANCE)/$6(WORLD)
"Inspired by Zygmunt Bauman's Life In Fragments; a series of Slow dirges, somewhere between Arvo Pärt and Stars Of The Lid."

DRIVE WITH A DEAD GIRL - 'LIVE EP' CDr $2(FRANCE)/$5(WORLD)
"Three live tracks from this rock outfit. Reference points: Sonic Youth, older Blonde Redhead and the continuous hiss between your ears after the bomb drops."

TARDIGRADES - 'INFINITY DISINTEGRATING' CDr $3(FRANCE)/$6(WORLD)
"Tardigrades carries on the pursuit of the holy void with this third record. An oppressive, painful downer divided into two parts. Play this loud and die."

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